Luke § 42

(Orat. Catech. Mag. c. 23.) For whom neither the heaven rained manna, nor the earth brought forth corn according to its nature, but from the unspeakable garner of divine power the blessing was poured forth. The bread is supplied in the hands of those who serve, it is even increased through the fulness of those who eat. The sea supplied not their wants with the food of fishes, but He who placed in the sea the race of fishes.

The day began to decline, and the twelve, approaching, said to him, "Send the crowds away, so that they may go into the villages and countryside around and find food." As the day declined, the Savior feeds the crowds, because either with the end of the ages approaching, or when the Sun of righteousness has set for us, we are saved from the wasting away of long spiritual famine.

Now when the day was going down, he refreshes the multitudes, that is, as the end of the world approaches, or when the Sun of righteousness sets for us.

Now the day began to decline, etc. After the instruction of the disciples through a familiar example, there follows instruction through a figurative deed, and this in the feeding of the crowds. Concerning the expression of which, two things are introduced by the Evangelist. The first is the occasion on the part of the need of the multitude; the second is the generosity on the part of the mercy of the Savior, and this at the passage: And he said to his disciples: Make them sit down, etc.

The occasion on the part of the need of the multitude is expressed with regard to four things, namely with regard to the lateness of the day, with regard to the barrenness of the place, with regard to the scarcity of food, and with regard to the great number of the people. And so this occasion is constituted from the circumstance of time and place, of the quantity of food and of persons.

First, therefore, as regards the lateness of the day, it is said: Now the day began to decline: and so it was time to take refreshment, as is said below in the last chapter: "For it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent." In which also appears the wonderful devotion of the crowds, that on account of hearing the divine word they had forgotten bodily food. Something similar is read in Acts 20, that "Paul prolonged his speech until midnight."

But secondly, as regards the barrenness of the place, it is added: And the twelve came and said to him: Send the crowds away; and the barrenness of the place moved them to urge this.

Whence he also adds: That going into the towns and villages which are round about, they may find lodging and find food, lest, namely, they perish from hunger. And this is the sound counsel which the sons of Israel followed: Genesis forty-two: "The sons of Jacob went down into Egypt to buy food"; just as also the Apostles, John four: "The disciples had gone into the city to buy food."

So also these men now gave counsel on account of the scarcity of the place; whence they also add: Because we are here in a desert place, where there is a lack of food, according to Exodus sixteen: "Why have you brought us into the desert, to kill this whole multitude with hunger?" And because it is difficult to find sustenance in the desert, therefore they said that word of the Psalm: "Can God prepare a table in the desert?" This the unbelievers said, detracting from the divine power; but the Apostles said it out of concern for human need, because they did not wish to tempt the Lord.

There is an activity of God displayed throughout creation, a wholesale activity let us say which men refuse to recognize. The miracles done by God incarnate, living as a man in Palestine, perform the very same things as this wholesale activity, but at a different speed and on a smaller scale. One of their chief purposes is that men, having seen a thing done by personal power on the small scale, may recognize, when they see the same thing done on the large scale, that the power behind it is also personal – is indeed the very same person who lived among us two thousand years ago. The miracles in fact are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see...

Every year God makes a little corn into much corn: the seed is sown and there is an increase, and men, according to the fashion of their age, say "It is Ceres, it is Adonis, it is the Corn-King," or else "It is the laws of Nature." The close-up, the translation, of this annual wonder is the feeding of the five thousand. Bread is not made there of nothing. Bread is not made of stones, as the Devil once suggested to Our Lord in vain. A little bread is made into much bread. The Son will do nothing but what He sees the Father do. There is, so to speak, a family style...

When He fed the thousands He multiplied fish as well as bread. Look in every bay and almost every river. This swarming, pulsating fecundity shows He is still at work. The ancients had a god called Genius – the god of animal and human fertility, the presiding spirit of gynecology, embryology, or the marriage bed – the "genial bed" as they called it after its god Genius. As the miracles of wine and bread and healing showed who Bacchus really was, who Ceres, who Apollo, and that all were one, so this miraculous multiplication of fish reveals the real Genius.

Dr Pittenger contrasts my view with that which makes miracles a sign of God's action and presence in creation. Yet in chapter 15 I say that the miracle at Cana manifests "the God of Israel who has through all these centuries given us wine" and that in the miraculous feedings God "does close and small... what He has always been doing in the seas, the lakes and the little brooks". Surely this is just what Dr Pittenger wanted me to say, and what Athanasius says (De Incarnatione xiv. 8, edited by F. L. Cross, 1939)?

For, as has been said, they sought to be healed of different diseases, and because the disciples saw that what they sought might be accomplished by His simple assent, they say, Send them away, that they be no more distressed. But mark the overflowing kindness of Him who is asked. He not only grants those things which the disciples seek, but to those who follow Him, He supplies the bounty of a munificent hand, commanding food to be set before them; as it follows, But he said unto them, Give ye them to eat.

But this was a command which the disciples were unable to comply with, since they had with them but five loaves and two fishes. As it follows, And they said, We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we go and buy meat for all this people.

But when the day was wearing away, the disciples now beginning to have a care of others take compassion on the multitude.

This bread which Jesus breaks is truly the mystical Word of God and a discourse about Christ which is increased while it is distributed. From a few discourses, he ministered abundant nourishment to all peoples. He gave discourses to us like loaves that are doubled when they are poured forth from our mouths. That bread in an incomprehensible fashion is visibly increased when it is broken, when it is distributed, when it is eaten without any understanding of how it is provided.… Truly, Christ's gifts seem small but are very great. They are not bestowed on one person but on peoples, for the food grew in the mouth of those who ate it. This food seemed to be for bodily nourishment but was taken for eternal salvation.

The order of the mystery is preserved everywhere. The first healing is bestowed on wounds through the remission of sins. Then the nourishment of the heavenly table abounds, although this multitude is not yet refreshed with stronger foods, nor do hearts hungry for more solid faith feed on the body and blood of Christ. He says, "I gave you milk to drink, not meat. For you then were not strong, nor are you yet." The five loaves are like milk, but the more solid meat is the body of Christ, and the stronger drink is the blood of the Lord. Not immediately at first do we feast on all foods, nor do we drink all drinks. "First drink this," he says. Thus there is a first, then a second thing that you drink. There is also a first thing that you eat, then a second, and then a third. At first there are five loaves, then there are seven. The third loaf is the true body of Christ. So, then, let us never abandon such a Lord. He agrees to bestow on us nourishment according to the strength of each, lest either too strong a food oppress the weak or too meager a nourishment not satisfy the strong.

There is also a mystery in that the people who eat are satisfied. The apostles minister to them. The sign is given of hunger satisfied forever because one who has received the food of Christ will never hunger again. The future distribution of the Lord's body and blood is based in the ministry of the apostles. It is already there in the miracle in the way five loaves are multiplied for five thousand people. It is clear that the people were satisfied not with a little but with an abundance of food.

Although the multitude is not as yet fed with stronger food. For first, as milk, there are five loaves; secondly, seven; thirdly, the Body of Christ is the stronger food. But if any one fears to seek food, let him leave every thing that belongs to him, and listen to the word of God. But whoever begins to hear the word of God begins to hunger, the Apostles begin to see him hungering. And if they who eat, as yet know not what they eat, Christ knows; He knows that they cat not this world's food, but the food of Christ. For they did not as yet know that the food of a believing people was not to be bought and sold. Christ knew that we are rather to be bought with a ransom, but His banquet to be without price.

But here the bread which Jesus brake is mystically indeed the word of God, and discourse concorning Christ, which when it is divided is increased. For from these few words, He ministered abundant nourishment to the people. He gave us words like loaves, which while they are tasted by our mouth are doubled.

After taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke them, and gave them to his disciples to set before the crowd. The Savior, seeing the hungry crowds, does not create new food, but blesses what the disciples have brought, because, coming in the flesh, he preaches nothing other than what has been foretold, but demonstrates the sayings of prophecy filled with the mysteries of grace. He looks to heaven to teach that the gaze of the mind should be directed there, and that the light of knowledge is to be sought there. He breaks the loaves and distributes them to his disciples to set before the crowd, because he reveals the closed sacraments of the law and prophecy to those who will preach throughout the world.

Now our Saviour does not create new food for the hungry multitudes, but He took those things which the disciples had and blessed them, since coming in the flesh He preaches nothing else than what had been foretold, but demonstrates the words of prophecy to be pregnant with the mysteries of grace; He looks towards heaven, that thither He may teach us to direct the eye of the mind, there to seek the light of knowledge; He breaks and distributes to the disciples to be placed before the multitude, because He revealed to them the Sacraments of the Law and the Prophets that they might preach them to the world.

Second, with regard to the multitude of provisions, it is said: But having taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and blessed them: in which blessing there was a multiplication of the loaves, according to that passage in Genesis 1: "God blessed them and said: Increase and multiply and fill the earth"; and in Genesis 30, Laban said to Jacob: "I know that the Lord has blessed me on account of you." Moreover, in blessing he looked up to heaven to show that such multiplication was not by earthly power or a power bestowed upon the elements, but by heavenly power, reserved in the primordial causes, concerning which it is said in the Psalm: "Whatever the Lord willed, he did in heaven and on earth, in the sea and in all the depths."

And note that it is said: He looked up and he blessed: he looked up indeed out of human humility, and he blessed by divine power; the Psalm: "I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains."

Third, with regard to the courtesy of those ministering, it is added: And he broke and distributed to his disciples, that they might set before the crowds. For they were the noble ministers and stewards of Christ, and ready to serve, according to that passage in 1 Corinthians 4: "Let a man so regard us as ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God." For it befits a noble lord to have noble ministers, according to that passage in Esther 1: "So the king had appointed, setting over each table one of his princes, so that each might take what he wished." But in the court of Jesus Christ, the more noble serve and minister, as it is said in Luke 22: "He who is greater among you, let him become as the lesser; and he who is the leader, as one who serves"; and afterward: "But I am in your midst as one who serves."

The feeding of the multitudes in the desert by Christ is worthy of all admiration. But it is also profitable in another way. We can plainly see that these new miracles are in harmony with those of ancient times. They are the acts of one and the same power. He rained manna in the desert upon the Israelites. He gave them bread from heaven. "Man did eat angels' food," according to the words of praise in the Psalms. But look! He has again abundantly supplied food to those who needed food in the desert. He brought it down, as it were, from heaven. Multiplying that small amount of food many times and feeding so large a multitude, so to speak, with nothing, is like that first miracle.

This also He did purposely for our sakes, that we may learn that at the commencement of a feast when we are going to break bread, we ought to offer thanks for it to God, and to draw forth the heavenly blessing upon it. As it follows, And he blessed, and brake.

(Hom. 49. in Matt.) And to make men believe that He came from the Father, Christ when He was about to work the miracle looked up to heaven. As it follows, Then he took the five loaves, &c.

(ubi sup.) He distributes to them by the hands of His disciples, so honouring them that they might not forget it when the miracle was past. Now He did not create food for the multitude out of what did not exist, that He might stop the mouth of the Manichæans, who say that the creatures are independent (ἀλλοτριούντων. κτίσιν.) of Him; showing that He Himself is both the Giver of food, and the same who said, Let the earth bring forth, &c.He makes also the fishes to increase, to signify that He has dominion over the seas, as well as the dry land. But well did He perform a special miracle for the weak, at the same time that He gives also a general blessing in feeding all the strong as well as the weak. And they did all eat, and were filled.

And that we might learn the value of hospitality, and how much our own store is increased when we help those that need.

It is clear that the multitude were filled not by a scanty meal, but by a constant and increasing supply of food. You might see in an incomprehensible manner amid the hands of those who distributed, the particles multiplying which they broke not; the fragments too, untouched by the fingers of the breakers, spontaneously mounting up.

Not without meaning are the fragments which remained over and above what the multitudes had eaten, collected by the disciples, since those things which are divine you may more easily find among the elect than among the people. Blessed is he who can collect those which remain over and above even to the learned. But for what reason did Christ fill twelve baskets, except that He might solve that word concerning the Jewish people, His hands served in the basket? (Ps. 81:6.) that is, the people who before collected mud for the pots, now through the cross of Christ gather up the nourishment of the heavenly life. Nor is this the office of few, but all. For by the twelve baskets, as if of each of the tribes, the foundation of the faith is spread abroad.

"Place," he said, "in these twelve baskets all the fragments that remain." Thousands at that feast reclining, with abundance had been fed On the five loaves they had eaten and two fishes multiplied. You, our bread, our true refection, neverfailing sweetness are. He can nevermore know hunger, who is at your banquet fed, Nourishing not our fleshly nature, but imparting lasting life. -.

God has broken five loaves and two fishes and fed the five thousand With these foods that satisfy to the fullest their hunger. Then twice six baskets are filled with the fragments that are left over: Such is the bounty dispensed from the heavenly table forever.

Twelve baskets of fragments were taken up that were left over. What was left over by the crowds is gathered by the disciples, because the more sacred mysteries, which the unrefined cannot grasp, should not be neglected but sought by the perfect. For by the twelve baskets, the apostles are symbolized, and through the apostles, all the subsequent choirs of teachers, who, though outwardly despised by men, are inwardly filled with the remnants of the saving food to nurture the hearts of the humble. For it is known that service works are commonly carried out with baskets, but it was he who filled the baskets with fragments of bread, who chose the weak things of this world to confound the strong.

Or by the twelve baskets the twelve Apostles are figured, and all succeeding teachers, despised indeed by men without, but within loaded with the fragments of saving food.

Fourth, regarding the satiety of those eating, it is added: And they all ate and were satisfied, so that the word of the Psalm might be verified: "The poor shall eat and shall be satisfied, and they shall praise the Lord who seek him"; and that passage: "They ate and were exceedingly satisfied"; satisfied, I say, with the satiety of justice, concerning which Proverbs thirteen says: "The just man eats and fills his soul"; "for blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they shall be satisfied," Matthew five — not with the satiety of avarice, concerning which Ecclesiastes five says: "The satiety of the rich does not permit him to sleep," because he is so sated that he always hungers. — And since divine abundance exceeds our need, therefore it is added: And what was left over was taken up, twelve baskets of fragments: in which the magnitude of superabundance is shown from the capacity of the vessels and their number, because twelve is the first abundant number, according to what arithmetic teaches. And so was fulfilled that whose figure preceded in 4 Kings four. Elisha said concerning a few loaves: "Thus says the Lord: They shall eat, and there shall be left over. And he set it before them, and they ate, and there was left over according to the word of the Lord." But there the measure of such great abundance is not determined, as it is here: and this on account of the greater perfection in the Gospel and its greater abundance, according to that passage in Matthew five: "Unless your justice abounds more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." Or on account of the mystery. For these twelve baskets signify the twelve Apostles. Baskets are humble vessels, and these were filled with fragments of five barley loaves, that is, the teaching of the five books of Moses, concerning which 1 Corinthians fourteen says: "I would rather speak five words in the Church with my understanding," etc.

From this a pattern is given to preachers, that they should not invent new things from their own hearts, because the Lord did not create new loaves to feed the crowd — but just as the Lord multiplied the five barley loaves by divine blessing, so all abundance of true teaching must be drawn from the foundation of sacred Scripture, to be multiplied through prayer, by which one looks up to heaven, and devotion, by which one blesses, meditation, by which it is broken, and preaching, by which it is distributed and unfolded. — For catholic teaching must first be drawn from sacred Scripture through reading, whose words are loaves; Matthew four: "It is written: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

But to reading must be joined prayer: Matthew seven: "Seek, and you shall find; ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened to you"; we seek by reading, we ask by praying, we knock by working with our hands.

To prayer must be joined devotion and thanksgiving: whence Colossians 4: "Be instant in prayer, watching in it with thanksgiving." Whence Matthew 26: "Lifting up his eyes to heaven, giving thanks, he blessed." - To devotion must be joined meditation and the unfolding of truth, which is nothing other than the breaking of bread: Isaiah 58: "Break your bread for the hungry, and bring the needy and the wandering into your house." - And then it is distributed, when it is ministered according to the capacity of the hearers: Psalm: "Distribute her houses, that you may recount them." And from this the hearers are satisfied: Sirach 15: "She shall feed him with the bread of life and understanding, and give him the water of saving wisdom to drink."

And thus it is clear that the Lord instructed preachers not only by his own familiar example, but also by mystical and figurative example. For the Lord performed this miracle more for the instruction of minds than for the refreshment of bodies, since, as is said in Wisdom 11, he is the supreme lover of souls.

But what was the result of the miracle? It was the satisfying of a large multitude with food. There were as many as five thousand men besides women and children, according to what another of the holy Evangelists has added to the narrative. Nor did the miracle end here. There were also gathered twelve baskets of fragments. And what do we infer from this? A plain assurance that hospitality receives a rich recompense from God. The disciples offered five loaves. After a multitude this large had been satisfied, there was gathered for each one of them a basketful of fragments. Let nothing, therefore, prevent willing people from receiving strangers, no matter what there may be likely to blunt the will and readiness of men. Let no one say, "I do not possess suitable means. What I can do is altogether trifling and insufficient for many." Receive strangers, my beloved. Overcome that reluctance which wins no reward. The Savior will multiply the little you have many times beyond expectation. Although you give but little, you will receive much. For he that sows blessings shall also reap blessings, according to the blessed Paul's words.

[Jesus] offers himself as the bread of life to those who believe in him. It is he who came down from heaven and gave life to the world.

Nor was this all that the miracle came to; but it follows, And there was taken up of the fragments that remained, twelve baskets, that this might be a manifest proof that a work of love to our neighbour will claim a rich reward from God.

"Place," he said, "in these twelve baskets all the fragments that remain." Thousands at that feast reclining, with abundance had been fed On the five loaves they had eaten and two fishes multiplied. You, our bread, our true refection, never-failing sweetness are. He can nevermore know hunger, who is at your banquet fed, Nourishing not our fleshly nature, but imparting lasting life.

God has broken five loaves and two fishes and fed the five thousand With these foods that satisfy to the fullest their hunger. Then twice six baskets are filled with the fragments that are left over: Such is the bounty dispensed from the heavenly table forever.